Looking for an excuse to try the Wray & Nephew 126 proof rum. Anybody got a recipe that uses it? Seems to strong for sippin' rum or it might be a I'm a big wuss.
_________________"I can't die until the government finds a safe place to bury my liver."
Phil Harris

It is great for soaking fruit. Do you skewer slices of fresh pineapple and/or other fruit to garnish your drinks? Try soaking the fruit in Overproof overnight first. The rum bleeds out into the drink, and then, if you're fool enough to eat your garnish (hee hee) you're in for yet another treat.

I also use it for cocktail fireworks. I, personally, have not found any overproof rums to be of value for mixing into drinks or drinking straight.

On 2007-05-22 08:52, The Gnomon wrote:It is great for soaking fruit. Do you skewer slices of fresh pineapple and/or other fruit to garnish your drinks? Try soaking the fruit in Overproof overnight first. The rum bleeds out into the drink, and then, if you're fool enough to eat your garnish (hee hee) you're in for yet another treat.

I believe Holden uses this rum as part of the mai tai ingredients for the mai tai sparkletts dispenser at Mugoomba. He also uses some of the TV Mai Tai cocktail (already with alcohol, not mix), and then adds a few other things. You might be able to get the recipe from him. I don't think I have an ingredient list anymore. He had posted a picture that had the ratio breakdown, but the link is broken. Too bad.
Other uses for overproof, aside from flaming, include making rum swizzles and other drinks. One of the Beachbum Berry books has a recipe for a 151 swizzle.
I've used 151 to liven up a drink that was getting a little too watery. You don't add a set amount, just use enough for the amount of liquid left in the drink. For a drink that's almost gone, I use something that's probably less than 1/4 oz.

On 2007-05-22 08:53, Haole'akamai wrote:It makes a great base to macerate ingredients for liqueurs.

The pimento liqueur I've made was with Lemon Hart 151, because that's what I had on hand, but some claim that using Wray & Nephew Overproof plus Myers' makes for a final result that is closer to the hard-to-get commercial stuff from Jamaica.

Of course, Joy's indirect endorsement could be company hype to sell more OP, but the combination does sound like it has merit. Even though I'm not a big fan of mixing cocktails with any kind of overproof rum, I've been definitely planning to give this a try. Every few weeks or so the county liquor stores here have been putting W&N OP on sale, so (with Ting already in the house) I'm waiting for the OP sale price to come around (if it doesn't take too long).

Ting is expensive around here—usually $1.25 for a little 10 oz. bottle, sometimes more, and definitely more if you order one in a Jamaican restaurant. But Ting is really great, especially, if you knew and loved a soda in antiquity called Squirt. They make a soda called Squirt now (same logo, etc.), but it's not the same soda (doesn't come close). The cheapest way to get Ting around here is to go to a Jamaican/Caribbean grocery store and buy it by the case. If you just want to try it, I see it sometimes in supermarkets that require a more elaborate than average ethnic food section.

In the 50's and 60's, Coca Cola tasted like Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper tasted like Dr. Pepper, and Squirt tasted like Squirt. I think it was in the late 60's that Coke changed its formula, ruining it. I don't think Dr. Pepper was ruined until the early 70's. I have no idea when Squirt lost its identity. None of these sodas today taste anything like they were when they were great. Schweppes owns Squirt now, but it's produced in the US by Dr. Pepper/7-Up.

Anyway, while a real Coke and a real Dr. Pepper are things of the past, you can get the effect of a real Squirt because Ting tastes just like original Squirt. In fact, Squirt used to be the only soda I recall that was sold in little 10 oz. bottles, dark green, just like Ting. I think Ting copied Squirt in every way possible, but fortunately, Ting still tatses like Squirt. Now Squirt tastes awful.

Sorry. Didn't mean to rant. Getting back to the W&N OP and Ting. Ting is a strong grapefruit soda and could very well stand up to the power of an overproof. I'm particularly hopeful, considering it is supposedly a favorite of Appleton's Chief Blender, whose taste in rum I very much appreciate.